Newcastle United and Man Utd could deliver major Champions League blow to Premier League rivals this week

Newcastle United and Manchester United are fighting for more than just their Champions League futures over the next 48 hours.

The Red Devils are in action in their final group stage game on Tuesday night when they host a Bayern Munich side that have already secure their place in the knockout stages of the competition. The same can not be said for Erik ten Hag's men, who need to beat the Bundesliga champions and hope the group's other fixture between FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray ends in a draw to claim a last-16 spot.

Newcastle are also facing a nervy night on home soil as they must beat AC Milan at St James Park on Wednesday night and hope Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are unable to take all three points from their visit to group leaders Borussia Dortmund.

Should both clubs fail in their quest to extend their Champions League run into the new year, there would be a severe hit to the Premier League's UEFA club coefficient, which is used to calculate how many spots each country is designated in the following season's Champions League.

The group stage of next season's competition will revert to a 'Swiss-style' format, with four additional clubs added to the 32 that have taken part this season. Of the additional quartet, two will be awarded to the countries that have performance best in Europe during the current campaign.

UEFA award coefficient points for group stage wins and round-of-16 participation, with the Premier League's current coefficient boosted by Manchester City and West Ham United's respective wins in last season's Champions League and Europa Conference League Finals.

However, Newcastle and Manchester United's struggles could deal a severe blow to the Premier League's hopes of securing a fifth spot in next season's Champions League and the blow could hit even harder should neither side claim a minimum third place in their groups and the Europa League play-off round place that comes with it.

The Premier League are currently in fourth place in this season's table as the lag behind Germany, Spain and Italy - but the two Uniteds can go some way to boosting England's hopes by coming through their Champions League groups over the next two nights.